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tv   Piers Morgan Tonight  CNN  September 28, 2012 12:00am-1:00am PDT

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defeat. bin laden is dead. >> the world is not a safe place. it remains dangerous. >> with a week to go until the first debate, is this race closer than it seems? we'll have our own debate to find out. and been there, done that. probably the only person who knows exactly what william, kate and harry have been going through. sarah ferguson, the duchess of york on surviving royal scandals. this is "piers morgan tonight". our big story, israel standing tall against iran at the u.n. today. prime minister benjamin netanyahu urging the world to draw a red line to stop iran from building a nuclear bomb. >> where should a red line be drawn? a red line should be drawn right here. before, before iran completes the second stage of nuclear enrichment necessary to make a bomb. >> meanwhile, palestinian
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president mahmoud abbas accuses israel of what it calls ethnic cleansing. >> it is a campaign of ethnic cleansing, ask the palestinian people. >> tony blair worked out of number 10 downing street into what may be the toughest job, middle east quartet representative. he joins me now. thank you, mr. blair. it's been a big week with everything you're involved with now in the middle east. start with benjamin netanyahu's speech. very, very hard about iran, very clear and i will play a little clip in a moment of this bomb chart he produced. the big question i guess is -- two big questions. do you believe that israel is genuinely planning to do some kind of preemptive strike based on the rhetoric we're now hearing, and if they do, what should the reaction be particularly of america, but also other ally countries? >> well, is israel absolutely
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determined that iran should not acquire nuclear weapons capability, yes. i mean, how they prevent that is another matter. but i mean, it is clear that iran continues to work towards getting that capability and for israel, the president of iran just a few days back was questioning israel's right to exist so you can understand why they feel this is an existential question for them. i still believe it's possible that a combination of sanctions and negotiations could resolve this but you've got to say that time is marching on and so is their nuclear weapons program and israel will feel obviously alarmed and threatened by it. >> if they do something, should america do anything or does america keep out of this? >> we're not at that point yet. the united states of america, by the way, has also given an absolutely clear and firm statement on this, that iran with a nuclear weapon is unacceptable, and by the way, i'm quite sure president obama when he says that, he means it and intends to stand by it. i think america is also giving a very strong message to iran, but
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everybody wants to resolve this without a conflict because that is sensible and the best way of doing it, because the consequences of any conflict would be very serious, profoundly unpredictable. >> let's see what benjamin netanyahu today. he had this extraordinary chart he produced which was very effective. take a look. >> so how much enriched uranium do you need for a bomb? and how close is iran to getting it. let me show you. brought a diagram for you. here's the diagram. >> there was the diagram. he went on to show where the red line was. he basically said look, the process and speed of the enriching of uranium going on in iran, they could have a nuclear bomb ready to use by next summer. do you believe that? do you have any evidence for that? have you seen anything -- >> look, what the evidence is is
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something i wouldn't really comment on and by the way, there will be a lot of information with the israelis, the americans, the uk and other countries. so the central question is really are we serious about stopping iran getting the nuclear weapon capability, and i believe that we are. and the reason for that is very simple, that if you allow iran to have that capability, it would almost certainly start a nuclear arms race in the region and you would also end up in the situation where the danger, since iran actually does sponsor terrorist movements around the region, the danger of leaching out some of that technology would be deep. so look, i think at this moment in time there's only one central question. when we say iran should not have nuclear weapons capability, do we mean it and i think the answer in the international community is yes, we do. therefore the risk for conflict is a risk of miscalculation by the iranian regime that we're not serious about this. we are. >> president ahmadinejad, i sat
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down with him, we'll play a clip from that in a moment, he struck a strangely modifying tone, many thought. he was more reasoned than he has been in previous years at this event. one theory being that he's genuinely concerned that israel may do some kind of preemptive strike, and then no one could control what happens next. secondly, the sanctions may really be biting. the sanctions in particular in relation to the oil exports and to the banks may now be really hurting iran and he's getting a lot of heat from his own people. what do you think? >> well, i think he will be getting a certain amount of heat from some people, because there's no doubt the sanctions are having a big effect, and indeed, i think next month for the first time, iraq will actually export more oil than iran. so the whole balance of power in terms of oil production in the region is changing as a result of the sanctions. on the other hand, i think as the recent report of the atomic energy authority indicates, there's no sign that iran is relenting on this essential push, and the trouble is it's combined with a regime that
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holds views and does things that most people within the region find unacceptable. >> one of the views that he held and espoused when he came here before, particularly in new york and america in a wider sense, was what he said about wiping israel off the face of the map. he did clarify this slightly when i interviewed him. listen to this. >> translator: when we say to be wiped, we say for occupation to be wiped off from this world. for war seeking, to be wiped off and eradicated. the killing of women and children to be eradicated. and we proposed a way. we proposed a path. the path is to recognize the right of the palestinians to self-governance. >> do you believe in a two-state solution? >> translator: about the decision of the people of palestine, i cannot express an opinion.
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that is their prerogative. >> he certainly didn't suggest he ever wanted a two-state solution to this and i don't think he would be the one you would want to try to muddle through this. you are one of the key people to muddle through this and get some kind of deal. mahmoud abbas from the palestinian authority today was pretty similar to what ahmadinejad said. he said it's a campaign of ethnic cleansing, the palestinian people, by demolition of homes, prevention of construction, denial of services, and so on. the real sense i was getting, netanyahu barely mentioned any kind of peace deal today in his speech with the palestinians, you get a sense that the peace deal has never been further away. am i wrong to feel so pessimistic? >> well, it's understandable, people are pessimistic at the moment. the truth is, though, if we recharge this political process and got it back under way again, then the two-state solution which is the only solution, by the way, to the conflict, could be back on the agenda. but to do that, you need to have a framework of negotiation that's credible, because people
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have got to believe this thing will actually happen, and secondly, you've got to match the politics, if you like, the top-down political negotiation with changes on the ground that support the deal and don't go the other way against it. so this is why the palestinians are concerned about settlement expansion and the israelis worried about what happens with gaza, west bank security and so on. look, i think, i don't just say this because i'm by nature optimistic but i do believe it's possible to reach a solution, but i don't think this can be done unless the international community is prepared to really guide and grip this in a way that gives the parties the sense that there is a shape to the negotiation and real stuff happens on the ground that improves people's lives because if people's lives are getting improved and they start to see some hope, then they'll have a stake in the political process. >> take a short break, mr. blair, come back and talk about elections. because you never lost an election. you were the great champion winner of elections in britain.
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i'm sure mr. romney and mr. obama would love to have advice from you after the break on how they're going to win. [ male announcer ] now you can swipe... scroll... tap... pch... and zoom... in your car. introducing the all-new cadillac xts with cue. ♪ don't worry. we haven't forgotten, you still like things to push. [ engine revs ] the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward.
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with me now one of the great campaigners in recent history, former prime minister tony blair. you won three elections, never got beaten. mitt romney and barack obama watching, come on, what's the secret? how we going to win this election? i know you don't want to particularly take sides over this because you don't see it as your place to do that, but in terms of where this race currently is, is it too close to call? do you think it could still go either way? >> well, you never know until the election actually happens. at the moment i would say obviously president obama seems
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very, very strong but i mean, he will be -- the thing that's different, actually, is when you are the challenger, then you know, you're sort of -- your apprehension is different than the person coming to win a second term. i found actually the most satisfying election victory is your second one, really. >> when you get re-elected. >> because then you feel, you know, they have voted on something that you have done and something that you may do and it gives you -- you also feel greater confidence in the responsibility of the position. >> you said a very interesting thing earlier this week. you said if i were you, talking to america, i would sort of give up on being loved. if that's your ambition as still the world's greatest give up on it because it's not going to happen. i totally agree with that reading of it. americans are very nice people. there's a sense sometimes that making tough decisions can be very unpopular. you're not going to be loved everywhere. >> no. the thing people really want from america is they want to know that it's strong, that it's
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out there, it's engaged, and you know, this is true in life, by the way, that people look to the decision maker to take the decision and often, what happens is that they will want to reserve completely the right to complain about them and to say how much they disagree with them and so on and so forth but in a sort of way, they're quite glad someone's there taking the decisions. so you know, i think for america, what's important is to understand that even though there are people out there, you know, burning the flag and protesting against america, there's still an enormous residual respect for america. actually, many, many people out in the middle east really, whatever they may say if they're out in a public place, privately are glad that america is there and stands for what it stands for. >> whoever does win has got a huge economic mountain to climb, even now, 8.2% unemployment, $16 trillion debt, gas prices double where they were when barack obama took over.
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these are really tough challenges. what do you think is the quick fix, if you were going to be the incumbent come november the 7th, what kind of thing should the american administration, whoever it is, be looking to do quite quickly to try and stem this economic tide downwards which is going on all over the world. >> right. first of all, it's an incredibly difficult time for people in positions of leadership. when i compare my economic circumstances, i was completely blessed in that sense with the way the leaders have got to handle this thing today. for the united states, it's simple. they have to resolve this so-called fiscal cliff and set out a path to putting their house in order and by the way, i think that will happen. one of the things about america which is why, you know, i think whatever their issues and challenges, they'll sort of come through it. they will, i think, after the
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election, settle down and get this thing done. it's interesting, by the way, four years ago, europeans were worried about whether the american economic crisis would blow their economies off course. >> now it's the other way. >> today it's very much the other way round. actually, america, given where they came from on all this, actually it's pretty remarkable that they are where they are today. >> one of your successors, british prime minister david cameron has been in new york this week and went on the letterman show. he got hijacked a bit. let's watch a bit of this. i'm sure you'll enjoy this. >> and the literal translation was what? >> again, you're testing me. >> it would be good if you knew this. >> no, no. you found me out. >> oh, good heavens. magna carta literally means great chart. >> he ruined it. i was going to ask you. be honest. >> magna carta, because i'm slightly older than david cameron so i learned latin in school. >> you would have known?
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>> well, by the way he learned latin in school. let me tell you, there is nothing worse than being on these types of shows -- i used to get -- i would never get nervous about, you know, certain level of apprehension about doing let's say, with you i was always nervous because i never knew where you were going to go, but the ordinary political interview, whenever you went on one of these chat shows or programs like that, you were taking your life in your hands. >> you have sympathy for mr. cameron? >> i'm afraid i have total sympathy. >> would you have known who ruled britannia? >> no. i know i should, by the way. was it vaughn williams or something? i literally don't know. >> your sympathy is -- >> my sympathy is totally with him. and i have been in that situation myself. the only way to handle it is with self-deprecation. >> i think he said this is a career-ending moment.
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>> it's one of these -- it's one of these things that you just, you have to put up with and hope they're not voting on that basis. >> finally, i interviewed president clinton, an old friend of yours, this week. fascinating in many ways about a number of issues, particularly the issue of whether he could ever be president again. he can't be in america because of the 22nd amendment but he can be, he claimed, in ireland and possibly france. we think the irish one is particularly possible given his irish heritage. would you like to see bill clinton become president of ireland? would that complete the peace process for you? >> well, the one thing i know is that in whatever country and whatever culture, whatever continent, whatever part of the world bill clinton was standing, everyone else better watch out, because he is the total master and he's just -- the thing i always say about bill clinton
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is, the fascinating thing about him as a politician is that he's unbelievably smart and smart enough so that he doesn't come across as unbelievably smart. he just comes across as a decent guy. >> he also never lost an election, nor have you. if you ever went head-to-head, come on. who would win? >> there's no doubt about that, i'm afraid. much as i have a modest sense of my own abilities about winning elections, no, you saw this with his convention speech. what he has is the capability to take really quite complex subjects and you know, explain them in a way that gets people going and to be frank, to address one of these convention audiences, where you know, normally it's a bit of a rah-rah, everyone gets to their feet and cheers, to actually go through some of the detailed policy the way he was doing, you're not going to beat that unless you're a better person than me, at least.
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>> mr. blair, you were a great winner. good to have you back on the show. coming up, president obama and mitt romney dueling it out in virginia. is the president losing his lead there? battleground america comes next. [ female announcer ] kristine tweets, "have a yoplait. heaven on your palate." in other heavenly news, all our yoplait light flavors are now 90 calories each. and cue the angels. what? ok. we don't have angels. yoplait. it is so good. can your moisturizer do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno. >> announcer: you never know when, but thieves can steal your identity and turn your life upside down. >> hi. >> hi. you know, i can save you 15% today if you open up a charge card account with us. >> you just read my mind. >> announcer: just one little piece of information and they can open bogus accounts, stealing your credit, your money
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today i believe that as a nation, we're moving forward again. we're not where we need to be, not yet. we've got a lot more folks who have to get back to work. >> i have five things i'm going to do to get this economy going. and they're going to create 12 million jobs. i'm not going to be cutting jobs from virginia. i'm going to be adding jobs to virginia. >> talking jobs in battleground america. president obama and mitt romney today in the crucial state of virginia. both candidates fighting for every vote. let's bring in my political all-stars, charles blow, op ed columnist for the "new york times" and republican pollster, kristen soltis. kristen, let me start with you. your guy's in a hell of a lot of trouble. i'm looking at some polls here, doesn't matter who you believe, suffolk university, fox news, quinnipiac, "new york times," cbs, all of them in virginia against likely voters have obama comfortably ahead. this is a big problem for mitt romney, isn't it? >> i don't think it's quite a
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big a problem as you have made it out to be. there was a poll suffolk university had out just tonight that had obama up by two. so it is true you've got obama up in swing states like virginia by small margins. but there's become this narrative that's really developed over the last week that the race is starting to get away from governor romney that i think is not really founded in necessarily good data. you know, out of five polls that will come out in the week, there's always one poll that will show some margin where it shows obama winning a state like virginia or ohio or florida by a margin that's greater than he won it in 2008. i think governor romney's a stronger candidate. i think the fundamentals are better for republicans. i have a very hard time believing some of these polls that are showing, you know, obama up by ten points in a place like ohio, and especially virginia. i do expect to be in the republican column come november. >> charles blow, one of the reasons people are believing this momentum is that every poll now appears to be widening. that may be an exaggeration. i'm sure we can find one or two which remain the same, but it
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seems that ever since the convention, we have seen obama's fortunes get better and mitt romney's get worse. and you've got to say as the tension builds to the first debate, this is make or break week, isn't it, for mitt romney? >> this is absolutely make or break week. it's not just from the convention. we still don't know what the ripple effects of that 47% gaffe or whatever you want to call that, i don't call it a gaffe, maybe he's speaking from heart, i don't know what it is, but we don't know how that will ripple through polling and public opinion over the next couple weeks. so even if you take out some of the polls on the margins, the lower ones and the high ones, just take all this in aggregate, what you do see is a building of momentum and a widening of the gap. whether you think the gap is small or large at this point, it is about direction, the slope of the line, and that is what should keep mitt romney up at night. that really puts the onus on what happens in the debates and i don't believe at at this
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point in the game, that romney can do something on his own that will change the course of this race. you basically need obama to make a big mistake, which at this point in the race, what you need is three things. something has to be important, it has to be new and it has to be easily digestible. the 47% statement is all three of those things. >> yep. >> you have to have something on obama's side that is comparable to that and it is hard to imagine what that could be. >> kristen soltis, it may be coincidence but since that 47% story broke, it was so damaging to mitt romney that you just get a sense now that he's got to do something pretty impactive and powerful to get that off the agenda, because the one area that we all believe he had the advantage over barack obama was the economy. suddenly in one fell swoop, you have a guy who has basically written off half the country as
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a bunch of scrounging victims. that is not good. >> well, i agree that that's not necessarily good, but i think there is sort of an interesting opportunity. we'll see if the romney campaign takes it. where you know, up through the conventions and even a little bit after, a lot of this race has been about both sides trying to explain why the other side is wrong, why the other side is bad, and i think that this election, if the romney team thinks it's a referendum and all they have to do is say why obama is bad, then things like that 47% comment, they really do have the potential to hurt. but the big question that voters are asking is who's going to turn this economy around. if mitt romney in the next 40 days can give a good answer to that question, where we're not talking about are you better off than you were four years ago but we're talking about who's going to make you better off four years from now, i do think that that can be the kind of game changing strategic decision that they can make that begins to shift away from the gaffes that both sides are making and the potential things that both sides aren't doing so well, and really puts the focus i think on romney's strength which is he's got this plan to try to create jobs for america.
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>> charles blow, there has been a sense, a rising sense that the appointment of paul ryan as the vp pick has turned out to be a big mistake, that he should have chosen -- i had nate silver on last night who had wonderful facts and figures but said he had gone with marco rubio or something and gone for the latino vote, that could have been a demographic he could have pulled in he didn't otherwise have. with paul ryan, it just doesn't seem to be working. he brought him in to win the battle over the economy argument and ever since that happened, that appointment happened, it's gone the other way on the economy. he's been losing that argument. what do you think of that? was paul ryan with hindsight the wrong choice? >> hindsight is 20/20. we can look back on it and see all the reasons why it didn't work. you can see what they were trying to do, they were trying to tap into the tea party enthusiasm on the far right and if you could energize that base and get them excited, maybe that could be -- propel his candidacy forward. the other thing was they actually thought they could have some sort of big idea conversation, but the problem is
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that mitt romney does not want to have a big idea conversation, because he wants to run away from the specifics of big ideas and the one big idea that they are talking about, they're losing on which is in all of those swing states, they're losing this battle over who will better handle medicare. that's the problem. >> kristen soltis, that is undeniable undeniable. that has got to be laid at the floor of paul ryan. he was brought in specifically to win that argument and to win the other big economic arguments and it's simply not happening. in fact, the reverse is true. >> well, he was brought in, you know, republicans were very excited that this was going become a campaign not just about two men going for the white house but two really big ideas about the role of government in society and how, you know, what america should do with the next four years. and i think that paul ryan, when he's been out on the trail, they've been having him -- i heard even that he did a rally where he had power point slides behind him. i think that he's a really big asset and i hope that he gets used effectively in the next 40
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days because when he was chosen, to me that signaled exactly what you said. that the romney campaign was going to make this about ideas, that they were realizing that making this about economic policy, by being really specific and you know, not taking -- by really accepting that voters do want to hear specifics, they do want to hear a plan -- >> okay. we have to take a short break. i want to just tease, really, the secret softy side of mitt romney. could this picture that i'm going to show you and talk about after the break, there it is, it doesn't get more heartwarming than this. i'll explain exactly what he's up to in that picture. that could be to me a game changer.
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there are 47% of the people who will vote with the president no matter what, who are dependent upon him, who believe they are victims, who believe government has the responsibility to care for them, who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it, and they will vote for this president no matter what. >> president obama's new television attack ad due to air in seven key battleground states focusing on romney's 47% comment. with me now, my all-stars,
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charles blow and kristen soltis. kristen, again, this is a problem, isn't it, for mitt romney because that 47% thing is now going to be a huge stick to beat him over the head with the next 40 days. also quite interestingly, i thought today, you've got a new video released by the liberal leaning website mother jones which shows romney as bain ceo. take a look at this. then i will come back to you. >> bain capital is an investment partnership which was formed to invest in startup companies and ongoing companies, then to take an active hand in managing them and hopefully five to eight years later, to harvest them at a significant profit. >> mitt romney's campaign had this to say about this video, in addition to starting up new businesses, mitt romney helped build bain capital by turning around broken companies, creating and saving thousands of jobs. the problem today is president obama hasn't been able to turn around the economy in the same way. here's the problem for mitt romney, though, kristen, which is these were two areas, really, the economy and his record at bain, that were supposed to be
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the strong points for the romney campaign, and they're now being used as his vulnerabilities, his weak points. unless he can turn this round, you can't blame the obama campaign, they are ramping this up now, and attacking him on the very things he thought that he was going to win on. >> but this isn't really surprising at all. you already began to see the attacks on his bain record starting in the republican primary. this is something the campaign has been prepared for from day one. they have known that every single piece of his business record was going to be gone through. these ads sort of going after his bain record have been airing in swing states relentlessly. i really think that this sort of thing is already baked in. if you already think that romney's record at bain is the reason that you don't want him to be president, you have already made up your mind. if you think that his record at ceo of bain shows that he was a good executive and that he was able to start and grow companies, then you see it as a positive. i don't think that adding even more layers on to the bain issue is going to change people's minds. i think what's going to change people's minds is what's obama
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or romney going to do to make the next four years -- >> i'm not entirely sure. i think, charles blow, tell me what you think, i think this continual pounding now, if all obama does is pound away on 47% and romney as this kind of ruthless business figure wrecking jobs at bain, however true that may or may not be, and we haven't even seen the detail of the company report, we can't work it out but these are now becoming a big problem for mitt romney. >> it's a huge problem precisely because it's in his own words. if this was just an attack by the obama campaign and obama was standing in front of the camera saying this is what i think about what he did at bain, it's a very different thing. but using words like harvesting. what does that make the people who lost their jobs, the chaff? what does that make them? this is the worst kind of abusive language that you can possibly imagine. >> the problem for him is it plays to, kristen, i will come back to you on this, it plays to this sense there's always been about mitt romney that he's too rich, too detached. with that comes a kind of arrogance and disconnect from the average american.
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these two things, his bain record and the taxes issue and the 47%, it all just morphs into a picture that he's just not one of them. >> yeah, but you know what, when we were living in times of peace and prosperity we have the luxury of trying to vote for the president who's the guy we would go get a beer with. you have unemployment over 8% for 43 months. when we're not living in a time of peace or prosperity, i think those issues of how much do i like this guy and how much is he like somebody i would be buddies with becomes secondary to who's got an idea for who's going to fix these problems. i think if he's able to position himself as mr. fix-it, you know, that may not necessarily be warm and fuzzy -- >> the problem, though, the problem is you might not think that they think it matters but of course, the romney campaign today has issued the most extraordinary picture i have ever seen in the campaign which
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is mitt romney lying in the sand in a gigantic heart in which he's written "i love ann." >> very sweet. >> he was a missionary for the mormons here, i think in france when he did this. very sweet, very touching. they've done this quite deliberately. they want people, charles blow, to think that mitt romney is not a heartless, ruthless man, he's a lovable guy who loves his wife and paints big pictures in the sand f her. >> listen, i'm not going to knock a man for loving his wife. good for him and good for ann, and i applaud the fact that they have been married and they seem to have a very nice relationship. but to go back to the last point, if mitt romney was running on his economic record that he could turn things around, he has not demonstrated that he can do that. he has not sold the american people on that. >> is the debate, i come back to this again, the first debate, this is mitt romney's chance. to me, he's got to beat his chest, go out there and take obama down. >> he has to get into a back lift. it has to be dramatic. i don't believe it's something he can do. i think he has to just come off strong.
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it would have to be kind of a gaffe by obama. it would have to be something that obama did that kind of injured himself that would change the game. i don't think that mitt has it in him to change the game. >> charles blow, we shall wait with bated breath. to you and kristen soltis, thank you both very much. next, the duchess of york, sarah ferguson. i will ask her about the pressures of being royal and her new children's book. there she is. with the travey fall hotel sale. you can save up to 40% on select hotels. so book your hotel now and save up to 40%. hurry, offer ends soon. book now at travelocity.
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impressive, isn't she? >> my heavens, i take my hat off to her. she's serene. she glides like a swan. >> did you worry, given what you went through -- >> i'm a great fan. >> do you worry about her? do you worry about the pressure you know she'll be facing? >> i think she's able to cope with it. >> sarah ferguson, duchess of york from last june talking about kate middleton. fast forward to tonight. a lot's changed for the royals since then. what does she think now about what's happening? i will ask her about the scandals, about the pressure of being royal and about her children's book, ballerina rose. how are you? >> i'm doing very well, thank you. you've had a very tough show so far. now you're talking about children's literature.
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>> it's been a very british show. former british prime minister, member of the british royals. this is a great life for me as a brit. >> yeah, i know. i'm very proud of you, piers. we're all very proud of you. well done, you. >> we're not here sadly to talk about me or how proud you are of me. we're here to talk about you and how proud we are of you. just before we get on to the book and other issues, the whole thing of the scandals that have enveloped prince harry and particularly kate middleton, you went through a lot of this as a young princess. what do you make of what has happened? what advice do you give kate for how to get through it and how to deal with it? >> well, two things, really. firstly, i don't think i'm in a position to give anyone advice, but one thing i do say is that the media is a very powerful tool, but it can also be such a powerful weapon if used against you as we have seen with the invasion of privacy and the invasion of inner space, and if we really look at it, you know, harry's away in afghanistan
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doing extraordinary job for his country, and catherine always holds herself with the utmost grace and dignity. it is very difficult life in the goldfish bowl, but i think, you know, we just have to realize that today's media is -- there's cameras on every telephone and you just, it's just so difficult. for me personally i tell my girls always keep your [ inaudible ] well placed. >> i felt terribly sorry for her. i felt the paparazzi behavior was incredibly intrusive. having said that, i did think it was slightly naive of kate to be sunbathing topless anywhere where a camera could photograph her. i suppose at some people say is look, if you are a member of the royal family, there's certain things you can't do anymore. probably sunbathing topless is one of them. >> well, you know, the thing is that kate was in a private place on private property and you know, it was lovely to see a beautiful young couple so full
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of love. i think that's good nowadays to see love and to see great companionship, like you were talking about the president's wives or the wives out there, romney, mrs. romney and mrs. obama. what a great job they're doing. i think that more women should have the right to speak up and i think it's great. as you know, i'm all for women having a voice. >> you definitely are. you were very stoic, i thought, wife to your husband, who was obviously a very high profile prince. you carried on being a very stoic lady on your own since then. it's very tough, isn't it, the public eye. if you are michelle obama or ann romney or whoever you are, kate middleton, doesn't really matter who you are or what country you're in, the amount of attention that female very high profile people get these days, it's pretty unbearable, isn't it? how do you deal with that generally? generally? >> well, i think -- i think it's very difficult because you are
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always -- you always worry so much. not really, i can't generalize. i worry so much. i worry what's going to be the balash or what is it -- what -- am i looking right, not looking right? in fact, i am a very godmother. an independent woman, i'm a children's book author, and i'm striving to make a difference in education for children with my charitable causes. so i think the best thing you can do is strive on. keep your head held high, and have courage in your heart. and, you know, you can't go back. you just go forward and keep walking tall. >> you certainly have done that the last time you were on my show, i got very intrusive with you and asked you about your love life and you said the following. i don't think i'll get married again, but i think it's time to get a boyfriend. now, that was a year ago. how is it going? >> piers, and what have you done about it? absolutely nothing. you were -- you and your lovely wife were meant to -- no, you were going to set me up with a lovely man and you have done nothing about it.
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>> i have been very remiss. so i think it's time. it's time, you need to use cnn as a dating process. >> well, if anybody who is watching is up to the very high standards of my friend, sarah ferguson, please write to me, and i will act as cupid, how is that? >> yeah, i think that's very good. but i think also -- i also think that if anyone wants to come along, they have to go buy "ballerina rose" and put a tutu on. >> the most brilliant plug for a book i've ever seen. this lovely children's book. "ballerina rosie" dedicated to your two daughters, my girlies who dance in my heart always. how are they getting on, these two? they are delightful young ladies. >> beatrice has just climbed a mountain, and she started a
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charity with holly and sam branson, done very well. and the duke of york has gone down europe's tallest building, the shard. >> i saw that. >> absolutely down glass, and when he got to the top, he said, oh, dear, it's a bit misty, i'm slipping a bit. not at you want to hear. and then usually -- usually bicycles 100 kilometers, she has scoliosis of the spine, and bicycled 100 kilometers overnight, for her charity, the royal orthopedic hospital. i think we're out there, doing good works and beatrice is starting work next week full time and is usually studying hard and wanting to be in the art world, so they are doing very well, my girls. >> they are terrific girls and you should be very proud. "ballerina rosie" why should people go and buy this book. what are you trying to achieve with this book?
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>> piers, i think education is the route out of poverty. it gives the knowledge of survival, it also gives children the right to understand that it's -- they can be unique and valuable people within themselves. and so children's literature is key. and this book is about giving confidence to girls. it doesn't matter what size you are, whether you have red curly hair that doesn't fit into a little bun or whatever it is. just go out there and be yourself. for 3 to 6 year olds, that's the informative time. do not compare yourself to others. have confidence and go forward in life and realize that it's okay just to be who you are. and if you want to go buy the book, i won't tell you the end of the tale, but does "ballerina rosie" manage to do her pirioette? >> is there a touch of sarah ferguson in "ballerina rosie?" >> most of my children's books have a touch of my funny little old life at 52 years old. she goes to my ballet school, so
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i am "ballerina rosie" i know exactly what it feels like when you don't quite get it right. >> you look in fine form, i've got to say. very very glam at the moment, duchess. >> thank you, piers. i went through all this weight gain and not weight gain. back on form, back on track and building up again. going forward, working hard with children in crisis, and also become the global ambassador for not for sale, to abolish human trafficking. and that's very important to me. >> good for you. >> lots to do. >> a lot to do, and you're the perfect person to do it great to talk to you again. best of luck with the book. "ballerina rosie" on sale right now. >> thank you so much, piers. by the way, i signed this book for elise. >> my little daughter. so nice of you.
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that's very sweet of you, thank you. she will treasure it. >> thank you. >> lovely to talk to you, catch up soon. >> thank you, piers. next, "only in america "oishg the moron who used a fake grenade launcher to make a particularly more onic point. jen's car wasn't handling well.
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so i brought it to mike at meineke. we gave her car a free road handling check. i like free. free is good. my money. my choice. my meineke.
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well, tonight "only in america," meet the country's biggest idiot. this is phoenix, arizona. and the recording was made days after 12 people were killed and 58 others shot at the screening of a batman movie in aurora, colorado. a young man wearing arabic clothing, his face concealed, walking menacingly on the streets of the city. it took 15 minutes before the police approached and handcuffed him. the grenade launcher was a fake, a movie prop and this was an elaborate act. the imbicile was named michael turley. what is more disgusting, he didn't have the guts to do it himself. he persuaded a 16-year-old nephew to march around with the bogus rpg. an action that could have gotten the poor young teenager killed. mr. turley says he planned it
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because we need to pay more attention to our surroundings and be safe. he did it because he's a dangerous, attention seeking gutless little twerp. that's all for us tonight. "ac 360" starts right now. because we need toay more attention to our surroundings and be safe. he did it because he's a dangerous, attention seeking gutless little twerp. that's all for us tonight. "ac 360" starts right now. breaking news tonight in the wake of the libya tragedy. late word tonight from the u.s. state department they're pulling more staffers out of the embassy in tripoli because of security concerns. also tonight, also security related, new details. they're coming in reaction to our exclusive reporting last night on how quickly officials actually suspected that the killing of four americans in benghazi was, in fact, an act of terror, and how troubled the subsequent investigation into that deadly assault is turning out to be. today, 16 days after the attack, defense secretary leon panetta stated plainly what was obvious to many, including senator john